Coronavirus: 5% in every 600 J&K households show symptomatic data

An ongoing door-to-door COVID-19 health audit in Jammu and Kashmir has revealed that on an average, 20 to 30 out of every 600 households in the Union Territory (UT) are showing symptomatic data.

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According to officials, nearly 250 medical officers have been appointed for this exercise in each district. The extensive COVID-19 health audit was announced earlier this month for capital cities Srinagar and Jammu, but has now been launched in 15 out of 20 districts of J&K, they said.

“Each doctor receives data of 500-600 households from the field teams at the end of the day out of which 20-30 on an average are showing symptomatic data,” Dheeraj Gupta, J&K Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, who is also looking after the survey as the nodal officer, said.

He said from the collected household data, the designated medical officers select houses where they feel the need for making a personal visit. “Based on their field visit and clinical examinations of the persons showing some sort of symptoms, the medical officers decide about the need for sampling and testing of the COVID-19 suspect,” Gupta said.

The survey so far has covered three lakh households involving 15 lakh individuals across the Union Territory, he added.

Till Sunday, 66,343 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases had been enlisted for surveillance which includes 6,324 people in home-quarantine, including facilities operated by the government, 263 in hospital quarantine, 376 in hospital isolation and 10,974 under home surveillance. Besides, 48,400 people have completed their surveillance period.